Have you ever looked at your two year old and thought gee was I this bad as a kid? Did I put my parents through this? Is this a normal kids behaviour or did I spawn Damien? Well the answer is simple yes all kids give their parents grief at some time or another some worse than others. Ask your parents what you were like as a kid and they will tell you probably alot of things you did that you dont even remember some of it you will look at your own kid and say to yourself gee my poor parents and have the overwhelming urge to thank them for all the patience they showed when raising you. As much as kids can drive you completely crazy at times. They can melt your heart with a certain phrase or a look or you have this overwhelming feeling of love when you see how angelic they look when they are sleeping. The trick is to not let your kids realise what the triggers are to melt your heart or they will have you wrapped around their finger and have you standing in stunned silence as they throw themselves on the floor in a screaming heap or kick and scream at you all the way to the car while out shopping, home from the park, in time out after some embarrassing incident with another kid at play group or at a play date. Kids respond to consistency and to rules as much as people think this is not the case it is. No matter how funny something inappropriate your kid does might look at the time you need to resist the urge to laugh at all costs as this leaves the door wide open for your kid to do this again and wait for you to laugh. If the second time your kid does the same thing and you dont laugh it leads to confusion and anger for the child because today they cant do the behaviour but yesterday you found it extremely funny. Time out is a very good tool even for the terrible two,s your kid and most other parents kid's have gone through behavioural problems during the 2 year old stage. One minute for every year is the most recommended time for time out for all children. You might think that two minutes wont teach your kid anything and they will still behave in the same way but it does work. To a two year old kid two minutes unable to do anything is like a lifetime and with perserverence you will succeed. It won't make your two year old kid an angel but it will make life a little easier for both you and your kid.
